India Art Fair 2018

India Art Fair, the leading platform to discover modern and contemporary art from South Asia, announces programme highlights for the 2018 edition. Presented in partnership with BMW Group in India, the fair will take place at the NSIC grounds, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi, 9–12 February.

Under the leadership of new Fair Director, Jagdip Jagpal, the 2018 edition of India Art Fair will feature refreshed and expanded programming across each of the fair’s sections and a testing out of new ideas. The 2018 programme will offer unrivaled access to South Asia’s thriving cultural scene, including its galleries and artists, private foundations and arts charities, artists’ collectives, national institutions, cultural events and festivals.

This year sees a particularly strong representation of leading Indian galleries, enabling deeper engagement with artists from the local art scene alongside artists from South Asia. Galleries returning to the fair include Chatterjee & Lal, Jhaveri Contemporary and The Guild (all Mumbai), Threshold Art Gallery, Latitude 28 (New Delhi) and Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad). There is also a continued representation by Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai), Experimenter (Kolkata), GALLERYSKE (Bengaluru/New Delhi), PHOTOINK, Vadehra Art Gallery and Art Heritage (all New Delhi).

Prominent galleries showcasing the region’s Modern masters will include DAG (New Delhi/Mumbai/New York) and Dhoomimal Gallery (New Delhi) amongst others. Offering insights into the region’s cutting-edge emerging art scene, the 2018 fair will also feature younger galleries including TARQ (Mumbai) and Anant Art (New Delhi), alongside first-time participants like Samara Art Gallery and ZOCA (both Ahmedabad). The platform which acts as a springboard for emerging art practices and art collectives from South Asia, will grow in 2018 to welcome Tribal Art Forms and Delhi Crafts Council (both New Delhi) for the first time. Pichvai Tradition & Beyond (New Delhi) will also return, making vernacular arts a particular focus at the fair in 2018, with the ambition to explore the cultural history of the region through previously overlooked vernacular traditions. Building on 2017, Platform will also welcome back Britto Art Trust (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Nepal Arts Council (Kathmandu, Nepal), Swaraj Art Archive (Noida) and Blueprint 12 (New Delhi).

Complementing the fair’s regional perspective, carefully selected galleries from across Asia, Europe, South America, the United Kingdom and the United States will showcase their globally-recognized artists, many of whom have never exhibited in India before.

International galleries participating for the first time include David Zwirner (London, UK/New York, USA/Hong Kong), Blain | Southern (London, UK/Berlin, Germany), Karla Osorio Gallery (Brasilia, Brazil), Mo J Gallery (Busan, South Korea) and Richard Koh Fine Art (Singapore/Kuala Lumpur). Sabrina Amrani (Madrid, Spain), Aicon Gallery (New York, USA), Baudoin Lebon (Paris, France/Seoul, South Korea), 1X1 Art Gallery (Dubai, UAE) and Lukas Feichtner Galerie (Vienna, Austria) will also return.

Presented within a dedicated exhibition space for the first time, Art Projects will showcase large-scale installations by Indian artists G. Ravinder Reddy (THE LOFT at Lower Parel with Emami Art), Shilpa Gupta (FICA), Nandan Ghiya (Exhibit 320), Tanya Goel (Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke), Sudipta Das (Latitude 28), Subba Ghosh (Anant Art) and Navjot Altaf (The Guild) alongside Pakistani artists Imran Qureshi (Nature Morte), Zoya Siddiqui (Shrine Empire) and South Korean artist Timothy Hyunsoo Lee (Sabrina Amrani) amongst others.

More non-profit and public institutions will participate in India Art Fair 2018 than in any previous year, reflecting Jagpal’s commitment to developing India Art Fair’s role as a platform for the local and regional artistic community.

India’s most influential cultural organizations partnering with the fair in 2018 include Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, Floodlight Foundation and B M Anand Foundation. International institutions present at the fair include the Korean Culture Center and the Institut français en Inde. Alongside these, the fair will also engage with other leading non-profits like the Gujral Foundation, Devi Art Foundation and KHOJ.

Presented in a redesigned events space, India Art Fair’s public events programme will be reimagined and expanded in 2018 and will feature artist talks and industry debates, live events and digital artworks. Highlights include a moving image work by Hetain Patel, alongside a new strand of talks titled ‘I know what you did last summer’, which will invite South Asia’s most established artists to present on recent international exhibitions and projects. The first participant to be announced is Waqas Khan. The full programme will be announced in January 2018.

Continuing their long and substantial engagement with contemporary arts, Presenting Partner BMW Group India will show the 17th BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons – 2010, BMW M3 GT2 reflecting the cultural and historical development of art, design and technology. An exclusive space will be created for collectors to connect at the Collectors’ Lounge and an Annual BMW Patrons’ evening in support and celebration of corporate collaboration and patronage of the arts.

For 2018, India Art Fair will trial a professional learning programme, offering an in-depth view of topics related to the arts industry such as the accessibility of art in India, authentication, intellectual property and the import and export of artworks, featuring international speakers and consultants for some of the world’s leading museums and foundations.

India Art Fair is also committed to supporting arts education and development opportunities for young people within India, South Asia and internationally. The fair will partner with schools and universities and offer an ambitious volunteer programme. Penguin Random House India will partner with India Art Fair for the first time in 2018 to present a creative zone and open-air library for children between the ages of 6 and 12.

Recognising the collective strength of the local art scene, India Art Fair will encourage visitors to discover and explore New Delhi’s vibrant cultural offering through the wide-ranging collateral events programme taking place across the city. This includes standout exhibitions and events at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Bikaner House, KHOJ as well as Lado Sarai Gallery Night. International visitors looking to discover more of the region’s cultural offering are also encouraged to visit Mumbai Gallery Weekend, an annual festival organized by many of India Art Fair’s participating galleries, which takes place the weekend before fair, from 31 January to 4 February 2018.

Jagdip Jagpal, Fair Director of India Art Fair, commented: “We are thrilled to announce the first highlights of our 2018 programme, which is about inspiring visitors to discover the best of the local and regional art scene, from its fascinating history through to its modern-day icons and emerging talent. Packed with exciting initiatives, it complements the incredibly strong programming that we are seeing in our galleries. However, 2018 is just the beginning. Working with the community, we are taking this opportunity to explore and test ideas to shape the long-term future of India Art Fair, to ensure that it reflects the cultural diversity and distinct identity of the region. Moving forward, we are also committed to supporting the region’s artists, galleries and institutions not only at the fair but year-round.”

Mr. Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India commented: “Cultural communication has been one of the long-standing traditions among BMW Group’s social commitments. For more than 40 years now, BMW has been promoting artistic exchange between cultures, people and within the company. India holds an important place for this commitment. India Art Fair is a perfect platform for artists to showcase their creations and for art connoisseurs and enthusiasts to appreciate it. We are proud to partner this unique art project. Our association with India Art Fair is very special and we are thrilled to exclusively showcase the coveted 17th BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons at the fair.”

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Indian Media Gautami Reddy at India Art Fair gautami@indiaartfair.in | +919650056965